Improvement in manufacture of shot



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i CHARLES B. TATHAM, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF SHOT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,202, dated March 8,1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GrrAnLEs B. TATHAM, of the city of Brooklyn, Kingscounty, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Apparatus for Dropping the Metal in the Manufactureof Drop-Shot; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a plan, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, of the said improvedapparatus.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

So far as I am informed the usual mode of procedure is to] melt themetal in a suitable melting-pot, in which it is tempered by mixingtherewith a suitable quantity of arsenic, that it may rapidly congeal orsolidify when dropping through the air into the water below. By the sideof the melting pot orkettle, and at the required height abovethe waterinto which the shot is to drop, there is a set-pan or colender, thebottom of which is perforated with holes of a suitable size, coveredover with a layer of dross so placed on the said perforated bottom as toprevent the molten metal from running` out too rapidly. The molten metalis dipped out of the melting-pot by a handladle, and carefully pouredonto the dross in the set-pan or colender, and thence, finding its waythrough the dross to the perforations in the bottom,escapes therefrom indrops, which in passing through the air to the water below assume therequired spherical formdn solidifying. As it is important that themolten metal should not be too hot,it frequently happens that it losesits heat, and to prevent it from solidifying in the set-pan the workmanis required to ladle portions of it back into the melting pot or kettleto reheat it. This operation is very laborious, particularly in hotweather, and is frequently attended with loss of time and waste of fuel.

The object of my invention is to save the labor andavoid the waste Aoftime and fuel above indicated; and to this end my/said inventionconsists in connecting the set-pan or perforated colender with themelting pot or vessel containing the molten metal by means of aconductor governed byavalve, so that the metal shall run directly intothe set-pan, the

valve enabling the workman readily to control and regulate the flowthereof.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents the melting-pot, which is tobe mounted on a furnace in the usual'manner, but which may be otherwiseprovided with suitable means for melting the metal and keeping it in amolten state. The line c indicates the surface of the molten metal. Atthe bottom of this pot or kettle there is a short spout, d, forming partof the conveyer, and the bore thereof within the pot is formed as toconstitute a valve-seat, e, to which is fitted a conical valve, f, onthe lower end of a rod, g, extending up above the upper edge of the pot,where it is provided with a hand-wheel, It. This rod is threaded nearits upper end, and fitted to a suitable nut in a cross-bar, t', securedto the top of the pot. By this means the workman can by turning thehand-wheel readily open the conductinghole of the spout and regulate thesize of the aperture to govern the now of the metal from the pot. Theset-pan or colender la is constructed, located, and charged in the usualmanner with dross spread on the perforated bottom. An elbow-tube, Z,termed the conductor, is formed at one end so as to be readily put onand taken from the spout of the melting-pot, and its lower end hangsccntrally in the set-pan, with its discharge end a little above theperforated bottom; and to prevent the stream of molten metal fromdisturbing the dross a disk or plate of metal, m, is attached to theconductor a little distance below its delivery end to spread the moltenmetal as it issues into the set-pan. The line n indicates the height atwhich the molten metal should be generally maintained in the setpan. r

Before opening the valve to begin the dropping operation the conductorshould be heated to prevent the cooling and setting of the metal as itfirst runs through. The mode which I have practiced is to take it offand heat it in the furnace, and then replace it; but instead of this itmay be surrounded by a jacket and heated air from the furnace caused tocirculate around it. Any other suitable lnode of heating may be adopted.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the operator is entirelyrelieved of the labor of4 pouring out the metal with a ladle, and thatby simply operating the valve he can control and regulatethe iiow of themetal as circumstances may require, and thereby avoid all Waste; andalthough I have above described the Inode WhichIhave adopted ofconstructing the valve and the mechanism for operating it, and themanner of forming` the spout and conductor, I do not Wish to beunderstood as limiting my claim of invention to such mode ofconstruction, as other and equivalent modes of construction may besubstituted Without chan ging the principle of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination of the melting-pot, the regulating-Valve, the conductor,and the setpan, substantially as herein described, for dropping shot, asset forth.

oHAs'. B. TATHAM.

Witnesses:

WM; H. Brsnor, ANDREW DE LACY.

